Bill Benswanger (died January 15, 1972 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) was president of the Pitsburgh Alleghenys/Pirates baseball team of the National League from 1932 through 1946. Benswanger became involved in baseball through his marriage to Eleanor Fanny Dreyfuss, the daughter of longtime Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss. The elder Dreyfuss was grooming his son, Samuel, to succeed him as club president, but Samuel Dreyfuss died suddenly in 1931 from pneumonia at age 35. The following year, Barney Dreyfuss died as well. Dreyfuss' widow, Florence, inherited the team and successfully prevailed upon Benswanger, her son-in-law, to become the Pirates' president and front-office boss. He sold the Pirates to John W. Galbreath in 1946. Prior to Branch Rickey's efforts with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Benswanger was one of the few owners and executives who vocally challenged Major League Baseball's color barrier and its major proponent, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.